Sweet Baby Cheeses

If today is the 15^th and I have only posted 10 entries this month that means I am 5 days behind? Yikes.  Matthew was just asking me to watch a YouTube video from Lady Leshurr (Queen’s speech Ep. 1-4) and I told him I needed to work on the blog, he told me to blog on my own time.  On. My. Own. Time? Not to get all LL Cool Jay with him, but Mama said knock you OUT!  When is it my own time around here?!?  I sit down to blog, then I get up and check on Paul and make sure he’s getting ready for bed.  Then I sit back down, only to jump up and help Kat wrap caramels.  I go back to the blog and Matthew needs something for his cough.  I try and go back to the blog and then Kat needs someone to find packaging for the rum truffles.  I go back to the blog, and Paul can’t sleep and needs someone to scratch his back.  My own time, indeed.

Not that I am complaining about these other diversions, because I love my family and I am grateful for every minute I have with them, but honestly My Matthew’s sass mouth? It must come from his mother.

What are your families special holiday traditions?  Things your family does that mean holidays to you?  Tonight was a very special night for my family; the traditional party shopping trip. I don’t think anyone loves to go to Sam's Club, and I am not saying I do, but there is something fun about the whole family shopping for our party together.  It is a highly organized goal driven team exercise.

We walk into Sam’s with a list. This list is very specific and it is important to note that we never deviate from this list. Ever.  So tonight brie was not added to the list, and neither was tzatziki dip.  We also never get tempted by the people sampling things.  So it was not Paul you saw with the pretty girl sampling lotions and creams that are safe for his eczema skin.  Definitely not.

It is important to note that Kat and I are very specific when we make the shopping list.  We try every year to come up with a balanced menu and some years certain food items get culled in the spirit of a cohesive, thoughtful, balanced menu.  No one ever ignored the menu and just tosses a 20 lb ham in the cart because he likes ham and thinks we should have it at the party. *Cough* Matthew *Cough*.

Thriftiness is also a valued part of our tradition. This is why someone spent 25 minutes with 3 members of Sam’s management tonight discussing the disposable plate options.  While I appreciate some of the high end options, I needed them to understand that 33 cents a plate is on the pricey side and that people will use multiple plates.  It took them a while, but after I gave them an unbiased opinion of their ugly 8 cents per plate option they helped me come up with an option that I didn’t hate that meets my standards. (Let’s not even have the discussion of why we are using disposable plates when we own a sufficient amount of party sized holiday plates, unless you want tears and loud words. You come up with a way to transport 260 dirty party plates home and wash them in an apartment sink).

You know what else says Holiday Tradition to my family? The phrases “Do people even like celery? I don’t, so I just assume other people use it as means to eat dips and stuff” “Just put the Brie in the cart, woman” “Is 18lbs of meatballs enough? Do we need 24lbs? Maybe 30lbs?” “Why is it taking him so long to find the crackers, they are right there, I can see them from here!” as well as the inevitable “Oh crap we forgot…”

So while we are already home working on the list of stuff we still need, I did enjoyed our evening at Sam’s and the traditional hot dog dinner.  Merry Merry.